


Fragments

by Cherry101



Series: Writer's Society Prompts [5]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Character Death, M/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 20:33:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12872460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherry101/pseuds/Cherry101
Summary: The memories haunt him every day.Viktor doesn’t know what to do, at this point. He’s sick and tired of crying - it does him no good, shedding tears over something that’s in the past. Besides, if he cries, Yuuri will start crying as well, and… he tries to avoid that. Especially with how touchy his husband becomes in the days after the accident.~~~~~~~~The study of death and reaction to death.





	Fragments

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the prompt of absurdism, where I chose to focus on death as a concept. It's... A mess. Lol. Enjoy?

The memories haunt him every day. 

 

Viktor doesn’t know what to do, at this point. He’s sick and tired of crying - it does him no good, shedding tears over something that’s in the past. Besides, if he cries, Yuuri will start crying as well, and… he tries to avoid that. Especially with how touchy his husband becomes in the days after the accident. 

 

The two get an addition to their household. Four, actually. It’s a bit overwhelming, because they already have two kids of their own, and why Yuri and Otabek needed four, Viktor will never know. Six kids is quite the handful, but he doesn’t think he’d be able to live with himself if he sent them off to the orphanage. Not when the will, written in Yuri’s surprisingly neat and flowery handwriting, stated that the four children would go to the Katsuki-Nikiforov’s. 

 

The twins, Natalya and Nikolai, are both six. They took the death of their parents the hardest. Viktor doesn’t know how to bond with either of them. Natalya’s very strong-willed, much like her Papa, and she always looks to him with distrust. Nikolai… well, he doesn’t like people much to begin with. He’s quiet and reserved, and Viktor never knows what he’s thinking, which is strange for a six year old. 

 

The younger two are easier, especially little Karina. The two year old barely knew her parents, and she takes to Yuuri immediately, demanding his presence at all times. It would be adorable, if not for the circumstances. 

 

Maxim, the three year old who had actually been Ayna’s child at birth, doesn’t seem to care much. He’s ridiculously independent. 

 

They’re a handful, but Viktor does his best, and he knows Yuuri does as well. It’s what the four children deserve. 

 

Still, sometimes, Viktor hates the reminders they bring. Without the kids, it would be easy to forget. It’s easy to assume that Yuri and Otabek are both in Almaty, working,  _ living.  _ Otabek had a degree in sound recording technology, which he used at a radio station in Almaty. Yuri became a dance instructor, teaching ballet to teenagers. 

 

Sometimes… 

 

It’s easy to forget without the little reminders of a life, two lives, left behind. 

 

Viktor remembers when he got the phone call. It’s four in the morning, even earlier in Kazakhstan, and the voice on the other end of the call sounds apologetic. 

 

_ “Mr. Nikiforov?” _

 

_ “Katsuki-Nikiforov, actually.”  _

 

_ “I’m sorry to bother you so late. My name’s Dima Vasiliev. We met at Otabek and Yuri’s wedding, right?”  _

 

_ “Oh… yes, I remember you. Otabek’s best man?” _

 

_ “Yep, that’s me. I, uh, have news. Are you… are you sitting down?”  _

 

_ “I’m still in bed, actually. Should I wake my husband?” _

 

_ “Ah… yeah, probably.” _

 

_ “Okay, you’re on speakerphone now, Dima.”  _

 

_ “...I… there was an accident. A car accident, to be exact.”  _

 

_ “Otabek and Yuri? The children?” _

 

_ “The children weren’t in the vehicle. Actually, Ruslan, Inzhu, and I were babysitting. Well, Inzhu and I were, Ruslan was just there to play with Max I think. But…” _

 

_ “How… how bad was the accident?” _

 

_ “...Yuri’s in the ICU. The doctors are still unsure if he’s going to make it. And… and Otabek…” _

 

_ “...” _

 

_ “I know it’s late, and on such short notice, but… if - when - Yuri wakes up, he’s going to want you guys here.”  _

 

_ “Of… of course. We’ll get a flight immediately.”  _

 

_ “Thank you. Really.”  _

 

_ “...Of course. Thank you for telling us, Dima. We’ll see you in Almaty.” _

 

And they had. Despite the short notice, Georgi had willingly agreed to come over and watch Hikari and Alexei, waving them off. 

 

Viktor’s glad they left as quickly as they could. Even with the more expensive flight tickets, the limited seating, the hurried rush… he’d take all of that if it meant getting to see Yuri. 

 

Yuri, the feisty blonde skater, who turned into a surprisingly mature adult, remaining lithe and wiry even when he grew taller, with his sarcastic quips and teasing jabs, had remained close to the couple even as he passed the end of his skating career and moved on into his ballet career. 

 

Seeing him so vulnerable, unconscious in a hospital bed after the doctors stablilized his condition enough for a visit… it had broken Viktor’s heart. He stayed strong for Yuuri, he tried to stay strong for Yuri, because with Otabek  _ gone…  _

 

The blonde was going to need comforting, when he woke. 

 

Except he never woke. 

 

Viktor got to say goodbye to him, in that hospital room. When his lungs failed him and his heart stopped, when the machine flatlined, Viktor had been there, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes because this couldn’t be happening. Not to Yuri, who deserved to live. To Otabek, who hadn’t deserved to die. 

 

Yuuri, of course, had been in tears as well, clinging on to Viktor’s shirt as the doctors forced them out of the hospital room. Bawling into said shirt as they were forced into the waiting room. Inconsolable, weeping his pain so that the world could see. 

 

One of the doctors came out later, when the both of them were somewhat calm, to explain about the injuries the deceased couple had retained. They were hit head-on by an out of control driver - the driver had been an older woman, who suddenly had a heart attack inside the vehicle. She hadn’t made it out alive either. 

 

As the driver, Otabek had been killed instantly, his neck snapping forward, and how awful must that had been to Yuri, who the doctors said had been conscious when the paramedics arrived. Conscious, but in a state of panic, begging for his husband, even as the cuts and bruises and broken bones sapped his energy. 

 

In the end, he had internal bleeding that hadn’t been originally found at the time of rescue, which is what ultimately led him to his death. 

 

“Mr. Viktor?” 

 

Viktor snaps out of his memories, glancing down at little Natalya. 

 

Natalya and Nikolai had been surrogates, courtesy of Farida. The youngest Altin had actually volunteered(at least, that’s what Yuri had said) and yet, they both managed to look exactly like Otabek with few of Yuri’s features. Natalya’s hair is a dark brown and cut messily to her shoulders, her eyes a deep hazel. She gazes up at him intensely, biting her lip. 

 

“Yes, Natalya?” 

 

For a minute, the six year old glares at him, but then her eyes soften minutely, “Kolya’s crying.” 

 

Oh. 

 

Viktor allows her to lead him into one of the two guest bedrooms the house contained. Well, they were guest bedrooms, but now they belonged to the four Altin-Plisetsky kids. 

 

Nikolai is curled up in one of the bunkbeds Viktor had bought for them, his form trembling. From the way the blankets are curled around him, stuffed animals pressed against his side, it’s clear that Natalya had attempted to comfort her twin, to no avail. 

 

“Nikolai?” Viktor tries, speaking softly. He walks forward, sitting on the edge of the bed and gazing down at the boy. 

 

He looks a lot like Natalya, understandably. Dark, messy brown hair, with eyes more green than brown, and tanned skin. He’ll be beautiful one day, when he’s older, when his eyes aren’t red-rimmed and his skin isn’t blotchy.

 

At the sight of Viktor, the boy wipes at his eyes almost furiously, still sniffling. 

 

“What’s wrong?” Viktor prompts, hesitantly reaching out to rub his back comfortingly. 

 

Minutes pass in pregnant silence, the only sounds being the sniffles of the toddler curled up on the bed, before Nikolai leans into the older man’s touch, peering up at him with bright green eyes, puffy and red. 

 

“I… I miss Daddy and Papa.” 

 

Oh. 

 

Viktor bites his lip, still lightly rubbing Nikolai’s back, “I miss them too.” 

 

“Why did they leave?” 

 

How does one explain death to a child? Does a child really, fully understand the concept? How do you tell a kid that his parents are gone forever, not because they don’t love him and his siblings, but because their life was stolen by a vehicle? 

 

He has no clue. Yuuri has it easier - the younger two kids won’t remember, and they’re the ones that cling to his husband, both of them. It isn’t hard - Yuuri is so good with younger kids. But he doesn’t have to deal with the questions from the twins - questions that Viktor gets to answer. 

 

_ Joy.  _

 

Nikolai’s face crumples when Viktor doesn’t answer, lost in his thoughts and musings. He’s trying to figure out a proper wording, but the kid doesn’t know that. 

 

“Don’t they love me, a-and Talya, and Rinsha, and Max?” 

 

“Of course they do.” Viktor assures him, stroking his dark hair comfortingly, “They didn’t want to leave.”   
  


“Then why did they leave us?” 

 

“...It was their time, honey. But I assure you, they’re watching us from Heaven.” 

 

Viktor isn’t very religious, but he wants to believe that desperately. He glances upwards, mostly out of habit, and closes his eyes tightly, imagining that Yuri is sneering down at him, threatening him to take good care of their children. Otabek keeps a neutral face from beside him, but between their joined hands and fond glances, he doesn’t come off as threatening in any sort of way. 

 

“Are they really watching?” Natalya’s voice echoes through the room as she scoots closer to Viktor. She had probably been there with them the entire time, with how protective she is of her twin.

 

“Of course they are. They love you very much. I’m sure if they could be, they would be here with you two right now. You and your siblings. Okay?” 

 

Nikolai sniffs, wiping at his eyes, “Do you love us, Mr. Viktor?” 

 

And if that question doesn’t tug at Viktor’s heartstrings, nothing does. He swallows, forcing down the feeling of apprehension that pools in his stomach and offers a smile, “Of course I do.”

 

Immediately, he gets tugged into a hug, Nikolai clutching his shirt while Natalya presses against his back, and… 

 

Yuri and Otabek are gone. There’s no changing that. But these kids… these kids are pieces of them, living, breathing. 

 

_ Here.  _

 

Grief surges in his chest, tugging at him and threatening to pull him under, but then the warmth of the twins calms him, and he knows that everything will be okay. Maybe not right now, but one day. 

 

_ Some day.  _

  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
